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Event Description:Portuguese CobblestonePavements in the World Ernesto Matos, in his travels around the world, went on capturing disconnected images, and building an inventory of this carpet made up of small stones in two colors; carved by hand.

In each photograph the author invites us to reflect on the formidable Portuguese Epic, forever leave a mark in the inhabited spaces, including the Bay Area in; San Jose, Hayward, and San Francisco, as if each cobblestone pavement were itself the Padrão (stone monument set up by the Portuguese in newly discovered lands).

Art, Stone by StoneBy addressing the subject from several perspectives: History, Design, Geology, Colorimetry, and Architecture, Ernesto Matos shows that Portuguese cobblestone pavement is more than just the simple application of natural stone. It should be perceived as a natural cultural expression of Portuguese prototype. Its foundations trace back to a legacy from history, a cultural and technological medley of Roman and Arab construction that finally took hold in Portugal in the XV century during the reign of D. João II.

Man, laid out his destiny by taking to the road. Step by step, hand in hand, he metamorphosed the walk and conceived the pavement. Through pavements, peoples and civilizations were united, conquests anticipated, and routes and riches found. Today, this art, so typically Portuguese, may be found in many parts of the world.

Each locality takes advantage of its rich natural geological resources and uses primarily the region’s prevailing stone. This is the case in Algarve with the marble and schist and the islands (Azores and Madeira Archipelagos) with the black basalt.In most municipalities in recent years, the Portuguese cobblestone pavement was used as one of the requirements for urban designation.Sponsored by: Portuguese Heritage Society of California.